Surrogate carpet A and
surrogate “cigarette pack” B.

Once upon a time my then-seven-or-eight-year-old daughter had a favorite joke she liked to tell at family gatherings.

Here’s how the story came to mind on laundry day, 25 years later…

Imagine that just tucked-in clean sheet (A) represents a newly installed wall-to-wall carpet.

Imagine that a carpet layer’s hammer is vigorously applied to an assumed missing pack of cigarettes (B)–represented here by errant tumble-dryer hedgehog (C)–by lazy workmen hoping to hide their shoddy workmanship.

Surrogate missing hamster C.

Imagine the now-flattened carpet as the homeowner delivers the following punchline: “By the way, have either of you seen my pet hamster?”